12 night NZ cruise out of Sydney

Erikamac · September 18, 2016

Whose done it what was it like what were the highlights? This is one of 4 cruises we are looking at. Thanks!

coldweathergirl · September 18, 2016

I haven't looked up your exact itinerary but we did a sailing from Sydney around NZ ending in Auckland and absolutely loved it. I see you also posted about an Asian cruise as well. We've done that one as well and they're totally different. Loved both.

Asia was a much busier cruise for us compared to a more laid back cruising experience of New Zealand. Asia was much more congested and often long days traveling to see amazing sights wheras when we were in New Zealand it was so peaceful with amazing scenery, great wine and friendly people.

Erikamac · September 18, 2016

I haven't looked up your exact itinerary but we did a sailing from Sydney around NZ ending in Auckland and absolutely loved it. I see you also posted about an Asian cruise as well. We've done that one as well and they're totally different. Loved both.

Asia was a much busier cruise for us compared to a more laid back cruising experience of New Zealand. Asia was much more congested and often long days traveling to see amazing sights wheras when we were in New Zealand it was so peaceful with amazing scenery, great wine and friendly people.

I'm liking the wine part...we love wine and I've always wanted to go to Australia NZ. This one starts in Sydney and ends in Auckland. The Asia one starts in Singapore I believe and ends in HK.

villauk · September 18, 2016

Here's a link to Terry's excellent review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1974139

If you do a search there are many other reviews too ;).

coldweathergirl · September 18, 2016

I'm liking the wine part...we love wine and I've always wanted to go to Australia NZ. This one starts in Sydney and ends in Auckland. The Asia one starts in Singapore I believe and ends in HK.

If you decide to do the NZ cruise, go to Sydney for a few days pre cruise. We actually flew into Cairns for a bit and snorkeled the GBR, then flew to Brisbane to explore the city and the Gold Coast for a few days of beach then flew down to Sydney. While in Sydney we had an absolutely fabulous wine excursion into the Hunter Valley with a sommelier and wine maker.

We loved both trips but they were totally different holidays. I guess you have to decide what type of vacation you want. We had an incredible private guide for 3 days in Beijing on our Asia cruise. The only thing I regret with that trip was not flying off to see the Terra Cotta Warriers post cruise.

IMHO the snorkeling at the GBR paled in comparison to what we did when we cruised in the South Pacific in the Cook Islands and Tonga.

Edited September 18, 2016 by coldweathergirl
Add final sentence

macaroni · September 18, 2016

If you decide to do the NZ cruise, go to Sydney for a few days pre cruise. We actually flew into Cairns for a bit and snorkeled the GBR, then flew to Brisbane to explore the city and the Gold Coast for a few days of beach then flew down to Sydney. While in Sydney we had an absolutely fabulous wine excursion into the Hunter Valley with a sommelier and wine maker.

We loved both trips but they were totally different holidays. I guess you have to decide what type of vacation you want. We had an incredible private guide for 3 days in Beijing on our Asia cruise. The only thing I regret with that trip was not flying off to see the Terra Cotta Warriers post cruise.

Would love to snorkel the GBR...what time of year did you go and where did you stay? Were the seas rough to get to it...how far do you travel to get to the snorkeling...

coldweathergirl · September 18, 2016

Would love to snorkel the GBR...what time of year did you go and where did you stay? Were the seas rough to get to it...how far do you travel to get to the snorkeling...

We stayed at the Hilton in Cairns but booked a day excursion with Wavelength Reef Cruises to snorkel. They were an excellent company. Small groups, great food, and very safety conscious. We snorkeled several different areas. We arranged for them to provide transportation for us to and from our hotel to Port Douglas to snorkel.

We went mid November and the seas were good.

We found flights within Australia to be very reasonable.

Iamthesea · September 18, 2016

Sorry that the links have no titles and may not pertain to all the questions you have. They are also not in any particular order, but you are welcome to them.

Australia/NZ

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/regions/australia-cruises/?et_cid=1734418&et_rid=10459828&et_referrer=Contest_Costa_June2013

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43168024&posted=1#post43168024

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/area.cfm?area=4&et_cid=1734418&et_rid=10459828&et_referrer=Contest_Costa_June2013

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1345&et_cid=1734418&et_rid=10459828&et_referrer=Contest_Costa_June2013

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2313649

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2195713

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214929

http://www.thepreismans.com/nzaus_diamond.htm

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45651843&posted=1#post45651843

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/shore-excursions/port/93/

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2343402